BIRDS IN A VILLAGE 79 



black-birds, were inflamed at the gleam of crim- 

 son colour among the leaves. In the very large 

 orchards men and boys were stationed all day 

 long yelling and firing off guns to frighten the 

 marauders. In the smaller orchards the trees 

 were decorated with whirligigs of coloured paper; 

 ancient hats, among which were some of the 

 quaintly-shaped chimney-pots of a past genera- 

 tion; old coats and waistcoats and trousers, and 

 rags of all colours to flutter in the wind; and 

 these objects were usually considered a sufficient 

 protection. Some of the birds, wiser than their 

 fellows, were not to be kept back by such simple 

 means ; but so long as they came not in battalions, 

 but singly, they could have their fill, and no notice 

 was taken of them. 



I was surprised to hear that on the large planta- 

 tions the men employed were not allowed to use 

 shot, the aim of the fruit grower being only to 

 scare the birds away. I had a talk with my old 

 friend of the wryneck on the subject, and told 

 him that I had seen one of the bird-scarers going 

 home to his cottage very early in the morning, 

 carrying a bunch of about a dozen blackbirds and 

 thrushes he had just shot. 



